Psalm (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Paul Antschel
- First Published: 1963
- Type of Work: Dramatic monologue
- Genres: Poetry, Dramatic monologue
- Subjects: Suffering, World War II, God, Flowers, Jews or Jewish life, Death or dying, Bible, biblical imagery, or biblical symbolism, Nazism or Nazis, Blood, Holocaust, Jewish, Prayers, Roses
The Poem
“Psalm” is a short poem in free verse. Its twenty lines are divided into four stanzas, each representing a separate unit in the poem’s movement. The title indicates the theme and sets the reader’s expectations: This poem is a prayer, an evening song, a praise. God, whom traditional evening songs praise, is, however, repeatedly identified with “no one” and, eventually, the poem turns out to be a song in praise of the human spirit. The context of Paul Celan’s poetry and the imagery of “Psalm” also suggest that, more specifically, this poem is about...
[The entire page is 1538 words long]
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